Home Is
by LionshadeSC
Summary: Drakken has created a new kind of robot, which is a million times better than the failed syntho-drones. Both Shego and Dr. D are ready to take over the world..or at least Middleton. However, Drakken suddenly throws a curve-ball at his sidekick, leaving Shego to turn to Kim and Ron for help. set after So the Drama, but before S4 finale. focuses mainly on shego and drakken.
1. Chapter 1: Bitter Frustration

Chapter 1

Shego opened a bleary eye, sleep heavy on her eyelids. She heaved out a yawn, stretching out her arms so her back arched against the curve of the sofa. Her leg muscles stretched, warm as the blood flowed back into her stiff calves.

As she became more aware of her position, she smacked her lips together, hating the taste in her mouth from napping. She rubbed her eyes with pale green fingers; the gunk that had formed, she flicked away. A magazine rested in the dip of her stomach, open with the cover facing up. The villainess breathed one more yawn, and brushed off the magazine with a flick of her hand so it landed on the floor.

Her head tilted back so she could stare at the wall behind her, entirely crafted from glass so she could see the sunset over the city. The sliding-glass wall led to a short balcony that overlooked the street below where cars and petty peasants bustled about. Some evenings, Shego would go outside with her lawn chair just to sit and watch the city settle in for the night. Drakken was almost always in his laboratory, or just being useless in general.

_Speaking of the Doc_. . . Shego glanced at a clock on an adjacent wall. She squinted at it until the lines and numbers solidified. She blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes, and looked at it one more time.

"It's already six?" she voiced, turning in the chair now to look at the city. The shadows were longer now, the sun nearly over the horizon in the far distance. She blinked against the orange glare.

Shego swung her legs over the chair, standing in one swift movement. She stretched her arms to the ceiling one more time, groaning softly. "Another day gone, and absolutely nothing accomplished," she grumbled, cracking the joints in her achy palms. She looked to the hallway that led to the doc's work area. Usually it was busy and loud, filled with sounds of chains whirring, tools buzzing and growling. Now, though, it was silent, which caused Shego to wonder if he was doing anything in the first place.

Her stomach growled at her, hungry. She ignored it. _I'll talk to Drakken first, then eat after I make sure he's actually working on something_. Knowing her boss, he was probably collapsed over the surface of a counter, sleeping away on top of a blueprint with a pen still held haphazardly in his hand. Ideally, he would be snoring.

Shego approached the door to the hall, her legs aching from laying in the same position for so long. She pulled at the edges of her tanktop so the brim rested right above her navel, showing off her stomach. Her shorts were crumpled, short, and soft; they rested at her upper thighs. She yawned at the door, and opened without knocking in one smooth movement.

She paused in the entryway, looking around in the darkened room. From what was there, she couldn't see anything else, except for the sharp glow of a lamp at a desk, and a man's back facing her.

There were no windows in the lair, letting in no light, and there were no clocks on the wall, either. She would easily lose track of time in here.

Shego's eyes lazily moved over to the figure standing at the counter. She tuned her ears; from his direction, she heard him mumbling to himself, detected the scraping of pencil over paper. He was moving his hands feverishly while he planned something. From what she could tell, he was totally oblivious to her standing there.

Shego cleared her throat. Drakken stayed immersed in his work; he paid her no heed. More strongly now, Shego cleared her throat again. "Hmm, _hummf_!" she said. "Hey, Doctor D!"

Drakken jumped where he stood. He lifted his head, turned his head and looked over at her. "Oh, Shego. What are you doing here?" He blinked at the sight of her against the light, and she could tell that his eyes had turned a little red. They were irritated at having to work so precisely over such a long span of time.

"Doctor D," Shego started, her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised. "What are you doing? Are you, what, actually _working_?" The sarcasm in her voice was heavy, and she relished the look he gave her. His lips twisted up in distaste, and he grumbled at her, turning away.

"I don't need any of that lip, Shego, but yes, I have been working this entire time. How many hours has it been?" He had bent back over the counter, picking up his pencil once more.

Again, she looked back to her watch. "Uhhhh, about 12 hours?"

His back straightened back up. He pivoted where he stood and stared at her openly. "Wait, 12 hours? What time is it?"

"'Bout six," she replied breezily. "I just took a nap, was wondering if we were going to eat dinner or not. Obviously," she lazily looked over him in the way she knew he hated, "you weren't thinking about that."

Drakken frowned at her again, irritated with both her and the fact she had caught him off of his guard, "Well, _mmph, _I don't see what the issue is when there's more important things at stake here."

Shego blinked her eyes once or twice. Her hands rested firmly on her hips, unmoving. "'More important things at stake'? What could be more important than dinner?" Her stomach was growling, but she knew from the light in his eyes that she would not be getting food for a while now.

Drakken's eyes lighted at her questions. "It's more than just some random scribbles, Shego!" he explained. He clasped his hands together, wringing them like the evil scientist he was. "They're important blueprints for my next evil scheme to take over the world! Or at least Middleton. Start out small, as they say!" There was a grin in his voice as he turned back to the valuable prints.

Feeling a little let out, and wanting to get in on the action, she stepped forward into the spanning darkness of the lair's work room. "Let me see," she said, feeling a bit like a child.

Protectively, Drakken shielded his arms over it, like a boy covering his coloring book. "No!" he snapped. "They're a surprise. You'll see. When this is done, taking over the world is going to be the easiest thing in the world!" His dark eyes gleamed. "Just go sit back Shego. Enjoy the peace and get ready to relax."

Relaxing did sound nice, or at least dinner did. Shego's shoulders deflated from their tension. "Fine. If you insist. But what are we going to have for dinner?"

Drakken adjusted the lamp so it shed more light onto the counter and the blueprints. "Oh, I don't know. Order some Chinese for yourself, or some pizza. Go out for all I care, just let me work. Geez, you're starting to sound like Possible's little blond sidekick. Bran Doppable or something."

Being compared to Kimmie's sidekick caused Shego to bristle in anger, and instinctively, her fists blazed into green plasma. The doc didn't notice, though, so she breathed and receded them back into her hands. She inhaled.

"You know what? I could use some relaxation. You're right. I think I _will _go out for dinner. There's that nice steak place downtown. Really good soup too. I think I'll go there."

Drakken didn't even bother to wave his hand in her direction. "Fine. Go ahead. See you in the morning. Get some 'you' time or whatever the kids are calling these days."

Shego scoffed at him, and she stormed back out of the room. She gathered her things, and changed quickly into a nice outfit. As she was walking out the door with her purse slung over one shoulder, she yelled to him as loud as she could. "Fine! But you're paying for every penny I spend!" She had managed to nab his credit card while he was immersed in his work. Of course, he had left the card inside his underwear drawer, like any child would.

Impatiently, she waited for some kind of reaction from Drakken, a holler, a huff of indignation at least. She wanted _s__omething_ to berate her, but she only received a still silence.

Shego scoffed, slung her purse higher onto her shoulder. As she opened the door to the lair, she finally heard him call breezily. "Okay! Have fun."

The villainness shivered with contained anger, and slammed the door on her way out.

**Hey guys, this is Lion! Thank you for checking out my story! Even if you mis-clicked onto it, thanks for reading anyway! :D **

**I plan on this being a multi-chap story, but I won't be holding it to a schedule. I'm in college and it is absolutely vital that I pay attention to my studies above all else; thank you for your understanding and patience! My conscience will keep me uploading as often as I am allowed. Fortunately, I'm on Fall Break right now and will get a little extra time to write. :) **

**A bit shout-out thanks to my reviewers over in the Rain story I have uploaded; you guys are the ones that inspired and motivated me to upload this; so thanks! :) **

**Critique, comments, praises and whatever reviews you want are more than welcome; thank you for taking time to review. It really lets me know how you guys enjoy the story and if I have any problems in my writing. Thank you very much! Hope to see you soon! :) **


	2. Chapter 2: Plasma Anger

Chapter 2

Needless to say, Shego's dinner night was not going all that great. After leaving the lair, she immediately walked to the nearest and fanciest restaurant downtown. . . and was bored immediately. Usually she would find herself enjoying the moment to relax, to not have to think about Drakken or whatever he was up to, but tonight's anger had bristled her. She felt a stirring anger towards him, frustrated with his attitude. The calm atmosphere worked against her. The soft music, the quiet and pleasant chatter, the tiny scrape of silverware against plates grated her to her core.

So after eating her meal too quickly, and hurrying to pay for her food, Shego went immediately to the loudest night club she could find. If a calm environment couldn't get her mind distracted from irritating Drakken, perhaps the loud chaos of a night bar would.

Shego huffed, angry with the results. The music felt too loud, throbbing through her and the lights were too intense. Her dark and slim emerald dress hugged her body uncomfortably, reflecting off the green lights in an appealing way to others. The hem of it fell down to her knees in an almost elegant way, unfortunately catching the eye of every male in the general vicinity. She leaned over the bar, stirring her martini lazily, and feeling the glowing anger bubble through her like fiery lava.

"Hey babe," a voice slurred behind her.

The villainess didn't even bother to avert her eyes. "Shoo bum, don't bother me," she answered smoothly. Sometimes she welcomed the swaying words of men at bars, but not now, not tonight. She just wanted to be left alone right now. No matter what she did, or where she went, the restless feeling in her was persisting. Not a calm environment or a rowdy one like this was getting her distracted from her bitter anger.

The man was persisting, refusing the leave her alone. "Aw, c'mon, green. Don't you want to have some fun?"

Always the green. Always, always, always."Not with you," she said, sipping her drink, keeping her eyes faced forward. Her anger curdled in her chest. She could feel the heat rising up to her hands as they started to glow. The man went on.

"You gotta give me a chance. You want a drink? Let me buy you a drink." He was leaning into her now, resting against the barstool next to her. Shego's eyes closed, her mind fighting with patience.

"Listen, man. I understand that you must be deaf, or just stupid, but no means no. Get out of my face." His breath reeked of cheap alcohol, and his voice was only starting to annoy her further. She waved him away with a glowing green hand.

He pressed against her, a hand casually resting on the counter. She leaned away from him. "You're so tense, girl. Just let me-" his words fell to empty air as his hand brushed her face, moving her hair behind an ear, and that's when she had it.

Shego's hands lit with plasma like flame to oil, and she snarled at him, slashing at his face. Luckily for the drunk fool, he was aware enough to back away so she missed him only by inches. "Whoa!" he gasped. A ring of people bounced away from Shego's proximity, sudden fear in their eyes. The villainess craved it.

"Yeah! Back off!" she growled at them, turning in a circle so her plasma glowed. When she was facing back towards the bar, she extinguished one hand harshly, reaching out to grab her half-full drink. Or was it half-empty? Ah, what the heck. She drank the rest of it down harshly, slammed it on the counter so the glass cracked. With one more threatening glare thrown to the people in the bar, Shego stomped her way out the door.

When she cleared the building, Shego realized two things. For one, she hadn't paid, and two, she was starting to feel dizzy. She didn't care too much about the first thing, but her steps were wobbled, and her head was beginning to throb dully while the ground spun beneath her.

_Meh. That place doesn't deserve my money anyway. _Shego looked desolately into the stormy clouds overhead, frowning. Attuning her mental compass, she began her slow and dizzying way home.

She stopped abruptly at this sudden thought. _Home_, she realized. Her eyebrows furrowed down; she looked up to the pavement ahead of her. _I've never thought of the lair. . . as home_. The alcohol had to be going to her head by now; a half smile curled up her face, her chest suddenly warm. Her feet began to shuffle forward.

_I've never had a real home before_.

**Hey, sorry guys this chapter is so short! Don't worry; I have several chapters already written as insurance so you _will _be able to get a few chapters up for the next few days, at least. :) **

**thank you for reading chapter two! :D I really appreciate it; please feel free to leave a review and comment on anything that struck you as interesting or as critique or such. Thank you for taking time to do so :) **

**thanks, and see you guys tomorrow! **


	3. Chapter 3: Robot What Now?

Chapter 3

When Shego finally pushed open the door to the lair, she stumbled in, slid off her electric green pumps, and listened.

There was no whirring, no sounds of construction, just pure and pristine silence.

The villainess wondered distantly if Drakken was still in his work room, busy at the blueprints again. She sneered at the door leading to it, not bothering to look at the crack under the door to see if any light shone there. Instead, she huffed to her own room across the hall, violently throwing the door open, albeit a bit dizzily. Her purse fell to the ground with a soft thud, and she nearly collapsed onto her soft bed face-first.

"I don't wanna move," she mumbled, face pressed into the silk covers. "Too much to drink. Nooooo,"

Pulling the muscle into her legs, she stood to her feet. Her hands reached behind her back to pull the zipper down. She grumbled in irritation when her hair became caught in the metal teeth, and she pulled her ebony locks over her shoulder. Her fingers stumbled, and pulled. The tight fabric loosened, slipped slightly off her body, and she squiggled out of it, leaving the dress on the floor.

Her feet sighed in contentment against the plush carpet, and the rest of her body sighed with her as she let a soft cotton nightgown fall over her torso and down to her thighs. Middleton always got hot in the summer, and this June had become especially awful. Every day Shego felt like she was just a cookie in an oven, ready to be baked.

"Thank evilness for air conditioning," she sighed, curling into her soft covers and plush pillows. The throb in her head was nearly gone, her mind easily ready slip away into a dreamless and full sleep.

((***))

"Shego! Shego, wake up!"

Her eyes snapped open; a flash of plasma burst in her hand as she immediately threw it toward the voice.

Drakken, who stood close to her, yelped in fear, awake enough to jump out of the way as the plasma ball sailed past him to scorch a part of Shego's wall. "Shego!" he admonished. "What did I say before about plasma in the lair?" He frowned at her.

The villainess yawned, both of her hands ignited. "What did _I _say about waking me up in the morning? And _being in my room_?"

Drakken ducked again as two more plasma balls flew at him. He grumbled, "Fine, but listen!" His mood immediately flipped over, and Shego allowed her plasma to die back down. Her hands began running through her hair, trying to smooth it out. Drakken started frantically rambling, "It's finished! I finally completed the design! I stayed up all night! I don't have _any _idea how many cups of coffee I had, but-"

Shego groaned, "Ugh, Doc, just get to the point!" She could see the twitch in his eyes and muscles; he was _definitely _jacked on some caffeine, which, given his energy level, was never a good thing. "You made some blueprints, so what? What's it for?"

He was jumping up and down on his toes in a weird little dance, making Shego think of an excited ballerina, and he whipped out a remote, waving it in the air. "My dear Shego," he started. "It is my great pleasure to introduce you _to-oo_-" his thumb pressed the only button on the controller, and the door to her room opened, "my new syntho-drones!"

Shego raised an eyebrow at the android that walked in. A large torso, slightly triangular shaped and made of tough metal, new and shiny. It had round shoulders, with thin cable arms that ended in large gorilla-size hands. The legs were large and muscular in a robotic way, while the feet were blocky. The shape of the head was oddly similar to a flat trapezoid, and the entire front where a face would be was a red screen and a speaker on the front. Shego's eyebrows lifted.

"Color me unimpressed," she leaned against the headboard of her bed. "Aren't androids supposed to be. . . human-like? They just look like pimped out robots. What does it even _do_?" she asked.

Drakken wagged his finger at her, "_Tsk, tsk, tsk_, Shego," he grinned. "These drones are _completely _different from all my other inventions!"

Her eyes rolled. "Yeah? How."

"I created these ones with a mentality to obey only me. I'm practically a _god _to them!" he smiled. "They'll do absolutely anything I say, like loyal, mindless guards."

_Still no different, _she thought distantly. Shego draped her hair over one shoulder, pulling her hands through it like a comb. "How, then, are they in any way like the syntho-drones you made last time? And, oh yeah, we completely _bombed _that mission." Her upper lip lifted in a sneer at him.

Drakken grumbled to himself, "Well, fine, you're right. They're not exactly the syntho-drones I made before. But _listen _here!" He leaned himself onto her bed, dark eyes shining. "You don't understand! They think like humans do! They understand we have needs, desires, wants! And they'll do whatever they can to fulfill whatever wish we ask of them! The know our _entire _vocabulary and what we mean! They can pick up sarcasm, how we're feeling, all the details!"

Shego sighed, frowning. "So? Wouldn't any other robot do the same?"

"Not technically," Drakken looked on smugly, then snapped his finger at the robot. "You! Number one!" The drone-robot whatever-it-was immediately turned its head to its creator. Drakken pointed at him, "My sideki-," Drakken paused for a moment. She saw him glance at her apprehensively and clear his throat, "My _associate_ is thirsty. Bring her a smoothie -pineapple mango, of course."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the drone replied, in an oddly human-istic voice. Only a faint crackle of static exposed the mechanics of what it was. Shego's eyebrows lifted above her forehead, and she watched as the drone walked smoothly into the hallway and towards the kitchen. She looked to her boss.

"He. . . makes smoothies?" she asked.

Drakken waved his finger at her again, "He goes to _steal _smoothie supplies, and then comes back to make smoothies, of course." A half-smile cracked through Shego's armor.

"So, how is this such a huge super evil plan?" she pointed out.

The grin on Drakken's face was immovable. "Didn't you hear me, Shego? The drones will do _whatever I ask of them_."

Her eyebrows were rising. "Soooooo-"

"Take over the world, of course!" he cackled. His eyes were sparking with excitement. "Once I have a whole league of them created, nothing will ever be able to stop us!"

Now Shego could feel the _real _smile curling up her face. "Okay. I'm game, sounds good Doc. When do we get started?"

Drakken rubbed his hand over his chin. "As soon as possible. I'm going to need to make a whole army, but of course, with my intellect, I can use the drones to aid me in creating more of them. They'll also only get better as the project continues. Maybe in. . . oh, a week?"

Shego glanced over the Doc's eyes, noticing how baggy they were, and dark. "When was the last time you slept?" she asked.

He shrugged, guilty, "Erm, I don't know."

She rolled her eyes at him again. "Listen, Dr. D. How about you go take a nap or five, and I'll keep an eye on the lair while you catch up?"

He blinked at her. "Really?"

"Duh. You won't be able to make good drones if you're passed out. Just go get some sleep, already."

He rubbed his eyes, and allowed himself to yawn. "Well, yes. I suppose it would be a good idea to get a few minutes of rest. I'll see you in about an hour, and we'll get started, okay?" With another full yawn, Drakken trudged his way out of his room, stretching and suddenly slumping his shoulders.

Shego laid back into her bed, pulling the covers up to her shoulders for a few more minutes of warmth. She felt the calling of sleep back onto her vision, but stopped when she heard a whirring next to her ear. Her eye opened.

Drone Number One stood next to her, holding clasped in his robot hands, a large, cold and fresh-made smoothie. It's color was a tropical orange, with a straw poking out from the glass cup, and a wedge of pineapple placed on its rim. Shego sat up. "This for me?" she asked, sitting back up against the headboard.

"Yes, my lady," it replied. She grabbed the smoothie from it, took a sip. "How do you like it, my lady?" it asked.

"Pretty good. Tangy. I like it." She sipped more of it.

"Anything, for my lady." The voice was cordial, and oddly charming.

"I ain't no lady. Shego is fine."

Number One nodded it's angular head. "Yes, Queen Shego."

Shego nearly snorted out her smoothie. "Ha! Queen. Shego is just fine, I said."

It nodded at her again. "Of course, Queen Shego."

The villainness yawned. "Whatever," and sipped more smoothie.

"Will that be all, my Queen?"

"Yep."

The drone whirred out of the room on wheelie-feet, and disappeared into the hallway. "I will be here if you need me," it informed.

The villainness took another sip of her smoothie, rethinking Drakken's plan. Maybe these drones would work out, after all.

(**)

**hey guys! Thanks for reading, again! :D **

**hope you enjoyed the chapter. :) as always, feedback is more than welcome; thanks for taking time to do so, it really means a lot to me. **

**I'll see you guys again tomorrow for the next chapter! :D **


	4. Chapter 4: Oh, What's In a Name?

Chapter 4 Oh, What's In a Name?

"Another smoothie, Brad!" Shego called, waving her now-empty cup in the air. There came a familiar whirring of the drone approaching, and he took the cup with automated fingers clasped firmly around the glass.

"What would you like, Queen Shego?" he asked cordially.

Shego looked up from her newspaper. She had lounged her way back onto her favorite sofa again, her legs hanging off and relaxed from one side. A yawn escaped her, and she stretched. "Strawberry banana." she snapped her fingers with rapid succession, "Pronto."

He nodded his head at her, and whirred away again where a group of other drones stood waiting for the next order. They all had aprons on with their numbers, one donning a specific chef's hat to give him status over the kitchen area. "Strawberry banana smoothie for Queen Shego" she heard Brad order, which caused a swell of whirs, beeps and static so the smoothie could be made. Shego buried herself in the paper.

Drakken was laying on the couch across from her with a book in hand. Having a casual day in the city-lair, he had put on a plain white t-shirt with comfortable, dark blue sweats. She caught a swift glance of him looking up in plain confusion and bewilderment. "Why did you call Number One _Brad_?" he asked.

Said Brad zoomed immediately to Shego's side. "Queen Shego has honored me by giving me my own name to stand out from my drone brethren," he answered. "I live to serve her."

Shego still purposely kept her eyes on the newspaper, so Drakken pressed, "But why did you name him _Brad_?" he sneered the name.

Again, Shego didn't look up, but answered breezily, "Oh it was the name of my first boyfriend." A terrible temptation urged her to look up to see Drakken's reaction, but she kept her eyes diligently on the paper, though she had not read a word of it. To her immense pleasure, she could hear Drakken grumble. Oh, she loved to make him squirm sometimes. . . Okay, she liked it all the time but could you blame a gal?

"So what's so special about this . . . _Brad_?" he asked; Shego could practically hear his face tightening and eyes narrowing in an aggravated expression. She finally did look up to Drakken and make eye contact with him.

She lifted one eyebrow, and a smug half-smile curled up one side of her face, "Oh, you know. . . He was just, a _really great _kisser. . . And wasn't too bad in other departments either, if you catch my meaning," she lifted an eyebrow suggestively at her boss, taking immense pleasure to see Drakken's face shift from a dusted blue to an immediate and scandalized plum. Shego casually turned her head the other way to hide her smug grin as she called out, "How long until that smoothie, guys?"

"Almost done, Queen Shego!" they chorused back to her. The screens where their mouths would have been rotated up so it looked like they were smiling. When they spoke, their ocular screens lit up with a warm green glow.

Drakken grumbled to himself. Sulkily, he crossed his arms over his chest. He looked like a child pouting in a corner when his favorite toy had been stolen by a sibling. His cheeks puffed up in that way when he was angry, and his eyebrows had furrowed over his eyes. Did Shego dare think he looked. . . _jealous_? A pleasant feeling unraveled in her stomach.

Stretching her body over the frame of her favorite chair, she extended one of her long and nimble legs. She was wearing shorts today, and the fabric rode up her thigh; her loose tanktop showed a bit of her stomach. "Yeah, sweet Brad. He really was charming. It's a shame he moved to England not long after we graduated. He had really nice hair, _mmmh, _and his _tan_! Oh my gosh you would not _believe _how badly all the other girls wanted Brad, but he went out with me!" Shego laughed, her tone high. Dr. D's face was almost violet, and she went on boldly, "I can't even _describe_ how _great_ it was when we spent the night together for the first-"

"_Blegghmehhack_! Shego! You can stop there!" Drakken threw his hands in front of him, and they waved erratically. "I don't need the details! Thank you, but no thank you! _Blech_! Gag me, already." He looked at her with bright purple cheeks. "Did you have to name Number One after you first boyfriend though, really? I mean-" he tried to pull off his voice as uncaring and scathing, _tried _being the key word, "How pathetic is it that you actually named the robot after your first _boyfriend_? I'd go with something else, personally."

Shego placed a finger to her chin in a sort of contemplation. Oh, she knew _exactly _what he was playing at. "You know, maybe you're right. Brad is a bit _un-intimidating_ anyway, isn't it?"

Drakken nodded his head seriously, "Absolutely. It sounds too cutsie, like a dog name or something."

Shego snapped her fingers quickly three times. "Brad!" she called.

The drone zoomed immediately to her side, "Yes, Queen Shego?"

She pointed her finger at him. "From now on, your new name is _Zed_! Got it? Consider it an upgrade name; it sounds more bad-guyish. You're welcome." She flipped her paper back into place to actually start reading. Her fingers snapped impatiently, "Now where's my smoothie?"

Newly-named Zed bowed at the waist. "I am honored, Queen Shego," he answered. Shego saw Drakken raise a dark eyebrow. Zed's back straightened, and his mechanical hands opened as another drone placed the next smoothie to his care. Zed turned back to her and bent down. "Your smoothie, Queen Shego," he said.

She took it from him, "Thank you Zed. Well done. You and your buddies can go power down for now if you want, or power up I mean. Charge, up your juice or whatever. Take a break."

Zed straightened his back. "We thank you, Queen Shego." Immediately, he turned and zoomed to the others. They formed a clean line and went to the outlet wall where their forms compacted into thin brief-case like shapes to charge their batteries.

Shego was aware of Drakken's eyes on her. His own eyebrows were raised now in confusion and wonderment. "Why do they call you _queen_?" he asked plainly.

"Because they know one when they see one," she said smugly, sipping the smoothie from the straw.

Drakken mumbled at her, something about 'you and your lip,' before he looked up when she spoke. "Besides," she said, and his head lifted to look back at her. "They call you 'King' don't they? We're the only two living beings that they've ever known. It's not too hard to figure out." Shego was aware her face was turning a deeper shade of green, though she prayed Drakken wouldn't notice. She glanced up to him, oddly locked on to his expression.

He was staring at her now as he put the pieces of the puzzle together, and partly realized what she was saying. His face would probably be eternally purple from now on, and his lips pressed together. "Well, yes, I suppose that would make sense. I _did _program them off of that. . .one . . . program, anyway. So, _mmrgh_, yes it makes sense."

Shego lifted the newspaper so he wouldn't be able to see how dark her face was becoming. "Yeah. Makes sense. Now let me read."

The two lapsed back into a comfortable, though more thoughtful silence, and while Shego was able to read a few more sentences in the paper, Drakken managed to interrupt sooner than later.

"_Zed_ isn't the name of an old boyfriend, is it?"

The villainess didn't look up from her newspaper, and decided to throw Drakken a bone for being such a good sport from her snide taunts, "No, it's not. Never known anyone named _Zed_."

Drakken grunted, and went back to lounging on the couch to read his book. He held it up to his face so she couldn't see him, but Shego didn't miss the small smile that curled up his lips.

***looks up guiltily*** **um, how long has it been since I updated? October in 2014? Oh. . . . *stares guiltily at the 36 pages of writing on my word document that have not been uploaded***

**I'm a horrible person.**

**Um, sorry bout that. . . . **

**Enjoy the chapter? I'll upload the next one tomorrow, I promise. **

**Please leave comments and critiques! I love hearing from you people, even if I never reply or it takes over a year for me to update! But don't worry, I am DETERMINED to publish this whole story, no matter how long it takes! **


	5. Chapter 5: Massage

Chapter 5

"Okay, so, how many drones have you made, exactly?" Shego asked one afternoon. She had set up a massage table on the back balcony, and the sun felt fantastically warm against her bare back as Zed massaged his robot fingers into her aching muscles.

Drakken stood nearby, awkwardly facing away from her as he held a hand to one side of his face to block his view of his sidekick. He was uncomfortable around Shego like this, and she cherished every second of his awkward-ness. She grinned into the towel pressed against her face. "A little higher, Zed," she ordered.

"Yes, Queen Shego," he responded, his strong robot hands pressing into her shoulder blades. Shego sighed contentedly.

Drakken mumbled out, "Uhh, I think we've made about 50 drones, so far. I want to make much more though, so we will be absolutely certain we can take over the world! Or at least Middleton. . . We don't have much time though; I want to get this done as soon as possible- Shego are you even listening?!"

She lifted her head, resting her chin on the pillow. "Yeah, yeah. I'm listening. Take over the world. Blah, blah blah. What's new? Just relax, Dr. D. Have you asked for one of these guys to give you a massage? I might die from it. It feels _so good_."

Drakken peeked a glance at her between his fingers, and he blushed. "Do you really have to be naked while you do it, though?" he asked, voice almost whiny. "It-It's embarrassing."

"What are you, twelve? Get over it," she mumbled into her pillow, resting her face back into the towels. "You're doing great, Zed."

"My only wish is to serve you, Queen Shego," the robot smoothly responded, continuing with the massage. Shego arched her back into the pressure, and sighed.

Drakken mumbled to himself again. She glanced up as he buried his hands into his pockets, though his eyes stared down at his feet. "It's been a whole week, Shego, and we haven't even really done anything. I've been allowing the drones to build each other recently. I feel useless."

"Oh, Dr. D. Chill out. We hardly ever get to relax. Just hang out. Read a book, watch a TV series, knit a sweater. The drones will all be done soon and we can get busy taking care of that whole world domination thing." Shego suddenly paused, and she looked up to the Doc as a sudden thought struck her mind. "They won't try to overthrow us, will they?" Flashes of old clone movies flipped across her mind's eye, and she couldn't suppress a brief feeling of fear at the robot's metal appendage pushing into her soft and pliable muscles.

Drakken looked uncertain for a moment, then brushed her fear aside swiftly. "No. They won't. I programmed them to show complete obedience, well, to me; it's supposed to be. Only me." The last sentence was quietly bitter and frustrated as he glowered at the floor in thought with crossed arms.

Shego propped herself up on one elbow. "'Supposed to be'?" she repeated.

At the sight of movement from the corner of his eye, Drakken looked towards her, then hastily turned away from almost-seen cleavage. "Yeah. Supposed to be. But I think they respect _you _more." He sounded resentful, and Shego laughed, laying back down onto the table and letting her arms hang over the side to catch the sunlight gleaming onto the balcony.

"You don't spend enough time with them. They're like dogs. And besides," she looked at him with a smug smile, "I think they know who holds the true power around here."

Drakken scoffed, his body and eyesight still turned away so he didn't directly face her. He crossed his arms across his chest. "Pah! Yeah right, Shego. Don't be ridiculous. Zed!" his voice commanded suddenly. The robot did not cease massaging Shego's back, but he did respond.

"Yes, King Drakken?"

"Go fetch me some water."

Both humans waited in silence; Shego snickered, and smirked triumphantly. Drakken cleared his throat. "Did you hear me, Number One?"

Zed replied, "Of course sir, but I have not yet finished massaging Queen Shego's back. Please wait."

Drakken whipped around, face almost red. "Now see here, you dumb robot-"

"Zed," Shego interrupted, all soft and smooth and gentle, "would you go get Dr. D some water? I think the heat is getting to his head. I can wait a few moments."

The speakers on Zed's face grinned. "Of course, Queen Shego. One moment," and he was off into the apartment to fetch a glass of water.

Drakken glanced at Shego, glaring. One side of his lip turned up in resentment. The villainess only grinned mischievously and settled back onto her massage table. "I don't think you understand your creations, Dr. D. Maybe you should get to know them better."

He looked enraged. "Don't tell me how to program my machines, Shego!" he snapped bitterly. "I understand them fine! They're just machines!"

Zed appeared next to Drakken. "Your water, sir."

The blue hand grabbed the ice-cold water, and he stormed back into the apartment, closing the sliding glass door with a heavy _thud_. Shego smiled after him, sighing as the sun warmed her back.

"Will King Drakken be alright, Queen Shego?"

"Of course he will," she responded. "He's just being a baby, is all." She snapped her fingers at him. "Massage." And the hands pressed into her back.

(**)

**Augh, short chapter today! Sorry guys! **

**A HUGE thanks to those who reviewed! Reading your encouragements really brightened up my day and motivated me to upload the next chapter! I felt like a kid on Christmas reading them. x) critiques are always welcome, of course. Improving my writing is a huge priority for me; I feel better putting my writing out there for you guys to read it if I know it's a lot better or has improved, at least. :P **

**Thanks for reading and (hopefully!) reviewing! :) I'll have the next chapter uploaded tomorrow. I'm trying to write ahead so I can keep uploading consistently like this for a little while. Thanks for all your support! **


	6. Chapter 6: Finally, Some Action

Chapter 6

"Surprise, Shego! Today we're actually going to do something!"

The villainess drank her hot coffee at the table, hair unbrushed and eyes not fully awake. "Finally," she grumbled.

Her boss nearly danced in, grinning and already wearing his usual villain attire. He stood across from her at the table. "We have enough drones to give them a test round! If we pull this off, we'll be able to take over the world _easy_!"

Shego looked at him with a raised eyebrow, allowing herself to wake up just a little bit at his optimistic tones. "What are we doing, then?"

His chest swelled in pride. "A bank robbery!"

Any excitement she had built up deflated in her, and the morning sarcasm returned. "That's it? A bank robbery? That's noob villain stuff. I can go rob a bank in my sleep with my hands tied behind my head. How is this supposed to-"

"Oh, Shego!" Drakken interrupted, throwing his hands at her, "You need to learn to stop interrupting people before they've finished speaking!" He was nearly bouncing up and down in unconstrained excitement. "We're not just going to steal from _one _bank, no-oh-oh. _We _are going to engage in a _string _of bank robberies! More than one!" At her blank stare, he added another detail fast and soft, "And we also need more money to keep making more drones, I mean, supplies cost money do they think drones grow on _trees_ because we're running out of funds. . ."

Shego remained unimpressed by show of a singular raised eyebrow. She stood in one fluid movement from her chair and crossed over to where the counter was. Drakken looked at her expectantly as she sat up on the surface and crossed one slim leg over the other. "Uh-huh," she continued, "and how many do you mean by 'more than one bank'?" she asked. She drank the rest of her coffee in a smooth gulp, and pretended not to notice when Drakken glanced at her thigh before swiftly moving his gaze back up to her head.

Drakken held out his palm like a display. "Obviously, five!" His chest puffed out proudly.

"Which ones?" she snarked.

"The biggest ones. Lowest of the five up to the number one bank. A bank-robbing-day-maraton. The first couple will be a good warm-up for the drones. We'll be able to fully test their abilities and make sure they're up to scratch."

Shego allowed herself to think about this for a couple of moments. She placed her mug on the counter next to her. "Uh huh, okay, sounds good. Not that difficult, but not too easy, either. And you're right; it will be a good warm-up for the kids." She looked at Drakken with a dark grin. "When do we leave?"

Drakken beamed, pleased with her attitude. "That's what I like to hear, Shego! Ten minutes! You go warm up the Sumo-craft, and I'll prep the drones!"

(**)

Shego turned the key in the ignition, and pressed the button to open the ceiling. With a flip of the switch and the turning of a lever to steer, they were lifting up into the clear, cloud-dotted sky of Middleton. The Sumo-craft moved through the air with total ease, even though it was carrying hundreds of pounds of drones. Drakken had built this larger one from scratch in preparation of transporting so many drones.

"Took me only a week to make, too!" he had exclaimed proudly a few days ago. "Who knows, I might need to make more when this all goes according to plan and we take over the world!" Shego had needed to bite at the inside corners of her mouth to withhold her smile when she heard Drakken say _we_.

The villainess shook herself out of her daydreams.

"How many did we take with us?" Shego dared to ask, keeping her eyes on the sky and her hands on the wheel.

Drakken did a happy dance in his chair, feet tapping the floor excitedly. "100 of them," he said under his breath. "I left ten at home to continue making more. If this plan goes well today, there's no _doubt _we will win."

Shego had to agree with him. She couldn't ignore the fast thumping of her heart against her chest. For once, this plan might go smoothly; Drakken's new creation just might pull them through. "We'll do great, especially with the drones. Not bad making them up, Doc."

He puffed out his chest with pride. He seemed to have a lot of that, recently. "Why thank you, Shego. They _are _my own creation this time, I'll let you know."

She scoffed, not wanting him to get _too _big of an inflated head. "Yeah, not too shabby. Whatever." She tried to hide the pleased smirk on her face, and she glanced over when she felt Drakken staring at her. His eyes had softened, and his smile was gentle, closed and warm. It sent a fast and hot feeling flashing up and down Shego like lightning. Her stomach tightened with a sensation she couldn't decide was uncomfortable or not."You okay, doc?" she asked.

He coughed into his hand, suddenly awkward. His eyes shifted. "Oh. Yes. Fine. It's just-" he shuffled in his chair. "I'm glad you're here with me, Shego," he mumbled quietly.

Her face was warm now, decidedly uncomfortably hot; her own lips pressed into a thin line. "Don't get too sappy on me," she said, trying to de-knot the tension hanging thick in the air.

"I'm _just saying_-"

"It's fine. I get it." her hands stiffly held onto the wheel. Beneath her black gloves, her palms began to sweat. She realized bleakly that he wouldn't settle the conversation until she returned some kind of sentiment, so she shifted slightly in her driver's chair as well, and mumbled out honestly, "I'm. . . glad that I'm here, too."

Drakken didn't say anything more, but she saw the relieved and happy smile line his face at her words.

(**)

They drove on for a couple more hours until they reached the first bank. "It's just about here," Drakken instructed. He pointed to a large building in the downtown part of a different city.

"Do the drones know what to do?" Shego asked. She looked over the edge of the huge sumo-craft, excitement at the next heist coursing fast through her.

Drakken nodded, and he bounced in his seat. "Yeah, no problem! I informed them and they each have their own job assignments! Don't worry about a thing, Shego!" He peered over the city, and finally pointed to a portion of the roof that was flat. "Oh, oh! There! There is perfect! Park there!"

Shego expertly turned some of the knobs on the dash, flipped a couple of switches, and began the descent onto the rooftop. She watched the panel, and landed the sumo-craft easily onto the roof. "Perfect, if I do say so myself," she grinned. "All ready, doc?"

Drakken stood nearby, ensuring his coat was latched on properly for his appearance. "All ready, Shego. Prepare the drop," he commanded. The other drones were lining up alongside him, and their hands transformed into heavy ray guns, charged with energy and glowing different colors.

"Disco drop, ready," Shego replied, and she pressed the button.

The latch underneath them released, and the whole fleet of drones and Drakken landed on the roof. Shego set the sumo-craft into park, cut off the ignition and jumped down to join them. Her skin-tight suit worked well with her muscles as she agilely ran to Drakken's side where the drones had already begun drilling a hole to where the vault was.

"Need my help?" Shego asked, igniting a hand.

Drakken didn't look up. His face twisted with excited and contemplative concentration."No, watch. The drones know what to do. Seventeen, plasma ray!"

_Plasma ray? _Shego thought before she heard a _whoosh _of power, and she whipped her head in the direction of the sound. Said Seventeen flared up as he pointed his gun at the ceiling, and released a hot ray of plasma onto the roof. Immediately, the cement disintegrated into nothing, and the robots went one by one into the vault. Shego and Drakken didn't need to do anything else but watch as the drones formed a filing line in and out of the vault carrying loads of cash. Shego watched with raised eyebrows, displaying how impressed she was.

In the excitement, Drakken did the happy dance. "Oh! This is so exciting, Shego! With the drones, crime is going to seem like a simple hobby compared to everyone else!"

Shego couldn't resist but to smile with him, and she placed her hands on her hips. "Gotta admit, Doc. This does seem to be working out for the better." The drones were still taking out the piles of cash, and Shego grabbed one that slipped away to stuff it in her pocket.

Drakken clapped his hands together like an excited child, "Oh, we'll be able to live like _kings _once this heist is finished! And we have four more to go!"

A sudden thought struck her, and Shego looked over her shoulder with a sense of paranoia. "You don't think the little goody-duo will be after us, do you?"

Drakken grumbled. "Of course they will, but if we're lucky, we'll be finishing off these banks too quickly. Then by the time they get here, we'll be long gone." Drakken looked at Shego with an expression that only displayed the strongest form of beaming confidence. "I say after this day is done, we can go to the Caribbean lair, take a load off for a while longer."

Shego scoffed. "We've been doing nothing else but laying around _anyway_. I could use some action."

"What, this isn't enough _action _for you?" Drakken gestured to the drones good-naturedly. "If you want, we can order the drones to slow down and we can _wait _for Kim Possible to catch up with us," he teased, raised his eyebrows over a smug smirk, and Shego laughed, feeling lighter than she had in a long time.

"I suppose being in the Caribbean for a while wouldn't be so bad," she complied. "The city lair is getting kind of cramped, anyway."

Drakken grinned with her, and clapped his gloved hands together as the sound of police sirens grew suddenly closer. He turned to the drones with a wicked smile,"Wrap it up, dronies! We're on to bank number two! Return to the sumo-craft!"

*(**)*

**I think this chapter is a little longer than yesterday's. My kindness knows no bounds. Muahp! **

**A many thanks again to those who reviewed, and a shout out to my silent readers who won't comment but read on, anyway! I hope this fic gives you guys some form of happiness to help you get through your day. It certainly does for mine. **

**I'll see ya tomorrow :)**


	7. Chapter 7: Attack!

Chapter 7

Shego sat carelessly in the driver's seat of the sumo-craft, rocking back and forth in her chair with a casual, confident manner. "This might be the easiest thing we've ever done." Drakken sat next to her, cackling evilly as he tried to count all the piles and piles of money that was being loaded in to their vehicle. "Do you think we should drop this all off at the lair before we wrap this up?" she asked.

Drakken answered back with a wave of his hand, "Oh, let's _live _a little, Shego! We'll be fine, and I think the drones are too excited to stop right now. We need to keep going while the emotions are _high_!" He jumped up and down in that tip-toe dance again, and Shego's reflexive smile betrayed her mask of impassivity. "When we get back to the lair, boys, free oil baths for all of you!" The drones raised their arms in a chorus of automated, '_yaaaay's!' _and returned to work at an even swifter pace.

"It's weird that this has been so successful. Almost too easy." Shego frowned in thought. "You don't think that they planned this or anything do you?"

"Who?" Drakken asked, turning towards her with a questioning gaze.

"The Goody-Two-Shoes-Duo," she answered.

Drakken waved his hand at her carelessly, "Oh, Shego. Don't be so tense. Anytime something actually goes our way, you have to whip out those doubts. Don't worry about it. I'm sure the duo are just clueless right now. Maybe they don't even realize what's going on, if we're lucky." He looked at her with a teasing smile, "They're probably sitting in some chemistry class or something, like the children they are."

Shego didn't comment, and instead chose to avert her eyes to the front of the sumo-craft and smiled, though she wasn't convinced. Her fingers tapped on the steering wheel. "They done yet?" she asked impatiently after a handful of tension-filled seconds.

There came an impatient sigh from her boss. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're just about finished. Come on boys! One more bank to go!"

(**)

As they neared the fifth bank of their heist, Shego glanced over to Drakken. "Um, Dr. D?"

Her boss relaxed in his co-pilot chair, feet on the dash and hands resting on his stomach. He blinked open an eye. "What?" he asked.

Shego pointed at the approaching building. "Goody-Duo, one o' clock."

Drakken jumped to his feet, hurrying over to where Shego was so he could gaze out the front windshield down at the approaching building. "_Ooohhhhhh_, cheese sticks! They weren't supposed to find us!"

Shego glared down at the building as they neared. "Their little techno-geek must have followed our pattern and decided we would be going here, next." She looked over to Drakken. "What do we do?"

The blue man rubbed his face in thought. "_Mrrgh_. I suppose we keep going. If we don't do this, we'll probably regret it forever." He slammed his fist into his hand. "We can do this! And then to the Caribbean! Shego, you go fight that Kim Possible and hold her off while the drones do their work! They'll be working slower since I'll be sending some of them off to fight against the cops and the sidekick, but have no fear! We will _definitely _be able to get away with this." A flicker of uncertainty showed in his eyes, but he didn't comment on it, and neither did Shego. She nodded and allowed the adrenaline to course fast through her body to pump her up for the fight.

"Ready boys?" Drakken called.

They stood to attention. "Ready, King Drakken!"

Shego let the sumo-craft hover in the air so their opponents wouldn't be able to reach it, and she released the hatch, diving after Drakken and the robots.

The air felt good against her face and hair as she fell. In her sudden rage, the villainess ignited her plasma hands; they sparked to life instantly, and she aimed for the red-haired cheerleader.

"_Kimmie_!" she called. The teen looked up at her, and flipped away, Shego giving chase.

"Oh, don't you want to play?" she taunted, swiping her clawed gloves at her.

"Don't you want to _give up_?" Kim snapped back, stepping into in her fighting stance, hands at the ready.

Shego chuckled, and flew at her nemesis again, "Not a _chance_, brat!"

Kim dodged, jumping away from Shego just in time for Ron to yell out, "Don't worry, KP! I'll stop the robots or. . .or something! I've got this!"

The cheerleader yelled out something else to him, and Shego took the advantage as she threw a volley of plasma balls at her.

Unfortunately, Kim was paying attention, and she flipped and dodged expertly. "Come on, is that all you've got?" she taunted.

The rage growing in Shego boiled up. _I will not let myself lose to this child again_! Her body curled into a series of flips, familiar with the actions as she continued sparring. _I just need to keep her distracted from fighting the robots and shutting them down. As long as that dopey sidekick doesn't intervene, everything should work out fine-_

"_Shego, look out_!"

A foot met her jaw, sending the villainess flying through the air to skid over the edge of the roof and hang over the side. Moving on sudden instinct, Shego's hands grasped at the roof, and her ribs ached from the bumpy landing. Cursing under her breath, she struggled to pull herself up, "Come on, Shego," she grumbled. "You're not an old lady yet. Get _up_!" But her muscles ached and had given out, refusing to contract to her will. She couldn't find the power to heave herself up. She was going to fall, going to fall all those stories down below and splatter on the ground and-

A mechanical hand reached down, grabbing both of her wrists to lift her into the air. Shego recognized her savior instantly. "Phew, thanks Zed! You bucket of bolts."

The robot grinned at her, "Anything for you, my Queen Shego."

"Great, wonderful. Now put me down."

The machine obliged. Kim watched angrily, "Ugh, so not fair!"

Shego smirked now, and leaned against the robot at her side. "Fair, Kimmie? I suppose so. Let me show you something else that isn't fair. Zed?" He looked at her, and she pointed at the cheerleader. "Fire."

"Of course, Queen Shego." The torso of the robot glowed a threatening green, causing Kim to take a few steps back.

"If I were you, Kimmie, I'd get out of the way," she sneered.

When the glowing in Zed's chest couldn't get any brighter, the front opened and released a huge ball of plasma flying directly at Kim.

The teen gasped. It was her years of training and developed reflexes that saved her, and she dodged to the side, but Shego smiled smugly when she heard the teen gasp in pain. When the light eased off, she saw the girl's legs red and burned, already beginning to blister badly. The teen held onto her legs, gasping from the pain. Shego looked casually over to Drakken, who was grinning and gesturing over that they were just about finished.

"Well done, Shego, you too Zed! Come on, time to go!"

Shego waved her fingers at Kim. "Bye-bye Kimmie! You should probably get some _ice _for that _burn_! Come on Zed!" She went sprinting towards Drakken, the robot following her.

"Where's the sidekick blunder?" she asked, leaping into the sumo-craft, quick and nimble like a cat. When she stood onto the surface of the machine, though, her arms and legs were trembling from her almost-fall. Zed hovered behind her, carrying Drakken in his arms. Zed placed him on the surface of the sumo-craft.

"Oh, he's down on the roof, passed out when I had one of the drones give him a good punch in the face." Drakken cackled, wringing his hands together. "We totally beat them! Yes!" He fist-punched the air. "We're turning into capable villains, Shego! This is great!"

She grinned and slid in to the driver's seat. Her knees were jumpy, but she gripped the steering wheel and forced herself into a state of calm. "Home, or Caribbean?" she asked him.

Drakken looked at her brightly. "Maybe we can drop this off at home so we can pack up some things, and then we'll leave for the Carribean lair later in the week. I'm tired." He stretched.

Shego started the ignition. "Sounds good to me, Doc. Home it is."

The sumo-craft whirred to life, and zoomed away to Middleton.

(**)

Shego set the craft to automatic flight mode, and leaned back easily. "Good day, Doc." She sighed.

Drakken laughed again, giddy. "Oh, the plan was completely successful, Shego! I'm so pleased! Although," he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, suddenly skeptical. "It looked for a minute that Kim Possible had beat you. What happened out there?" His voice dropped to a level of suspicion and wariness; he stared at her oddly, his gaze evaluative.

Shego felt immediately embarrassed. She tried brushing it off. "Oh, the sun just got in my eyes. Trust me, if it would have been cloudy today, I would have beat that brat without a second thought." Her hands waved in his direction nonchalantly, and she examined her nails in a way that suggested an air of uncaring, but the tenseness in her muscles hinted him off.

He didn't look completely convinced; one of his eyebrows lifted in a skeptical manner. "She nearly knocked you over the roof," he pointed out. "And you couldn't even pull yourself up without Zed's help." She glanced back towards him, starting to frown.

Her gaze turned ice cold, "What's your point?"

Something had just began to grow behind Drakken's eyes, a thought, just a sprout of an idea. It came up quickly, and just as fast, he buried it down. He looked at her distantly. "Oh. Nothing. Forget I said it."

Shego turned her eyes away, wanting to forget his prompting words, but what had been said could not be taken back.

(**)

**Happy April Fools! I'd present you guys with a joke, but the only joke around here only ever seems to be me. . . **

***ba dum, ss!***

**Way too tired to function right now. **

**I dare you to review. I crave your constructive criticism. **

**A special shout out to CYBERCORPSESNAKE for messaging me not long after Chapter 6 was uploaded to tell me that the chapter had glitched out. I probably wouldn't have caught it until this morning rather than last night when they did. Thanks again! **


	8. Chapter 8: Starting Phase 2

Chapter 8

When they reached the lair, Shego wasted no time jumping quick out of the sumo-craft and heading straight to her room so she could change into something more comfortable. The league of robots started following her, but she turned around fast and snapped at them, "Not right now! Go charge up or something!" They honored her wish, and all buzzed away to go plug in to the wall.

All but Zed. The robot waited for her. Shego glared at him sharply, then looked over his shoulder at Drakken, who exit the sumo-craft and was making his way towards her. Shego snapped her fingers at Zed. "You. Go plug in to the wall."

But the robot remained motionless. Shego growled, and her hands ignited, but she didn't throw any of her plasma at the syntho-drone. She huffed out a breath, and Drakken came hurrying towards her as she whipped around to stalk off to her bedroom.

"Shego!" he called. "Where are you going?"

She didn't turn around. "I'm going to my room to pack!"

His voice faltered from where he stood, and he tried to walk after her. "But don't you want to stay out here and. . ." his voice trailed away softly.

When he didn't finish, she stopped, and echoed softly, "And what?". Her hands were clenched and glowed ominously against the darkness of the lair. She could hear Drakken gulp.

"And celebrate . . . with me?"

Shego stood quietly and saw how the evening could have played out. They could have some wine, watch a movie, order a pizza, have a good time. . . But the words he spoke to her earlier echoed in her head.

_You couldn't even pull yourself up without Zed's help. . ._

Her wounded pride hissed and growled. "No. I don't want to celebrate."

She didn't need to look at him to know he was hurt by her words, and the lioness within her growled in satisfaction. _Good. _

"Why not?" he asked. "We had a completely successful day. You should join me."

She crossed her arms. "I'm tired. I don't feel like celebrating. I just want some sleep." Her eyes frowned straight ahead, her mouth turned down in anger.

He huffed out his own breath. "We've been sleeping and relaxing all week! _You _were the one who said you wanted more action!"

Her rage had slowly been climbing since they landed, and now it exploded. Whipping around fast, she pitched a fiery ball of green plasma at him. Her boss yelped and ducked out of the way, and she saw the indignation in his eyes as he glared at her. "_Mmrrggh, Shego_! I thought we agreed you weren't going to throw-_Yeow_!"

She hurtled another at him. And another. And another. "Just leave me alone!"

When her plasma attacks stomped, Drakken faced and stomped at her, "You're being so difficult!"

"Well I need some alone time!" she yelled.

He grumbled at her, frowning with his arms crossed. "Fine then."

Shego turned away, snapping her fingers. "Come on, Zed."

Drakken pounced on her words. "_Uh uh uh! _I don't think so!" Shego turned and looked at her boss with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip. Drakken pointed at her. "You wanted _alone _time, so that's what you're getting. Come here, Zed!"

Shego glared. "Yeah, alone time _away from you_! Here, Zed!" She snapped her fingers.

The poor robot, stuck between his two masters, began to inch hesitantly towards Shego. Drakken fumed, "_Number one!" _he yelled. "You will _obey me_! Come here _now_! That is an _order_!"

Shego scoffed at Drakken as the syntho-drone turned slowly and seemed to slide sadly towards Drakken, looking at Shego over his shoulder forlornly.

With an irritated groan, Shego whipped around to storm into her room.

"This better not be a new attitude, Shego!" Drakken called after her. "Your usual lip is bad enough!"

She didn't respond, and settled to slam the door against him as loud as she could.

The week went on with a similar attitude.

Shego tried to put it aside; she told herself that Drakken had only been worried about failing to take over the world, but she couldn't shake the incessant anger that continued to drive her. She would only look at Drakken's dumbfounded face, and her rage would rekindle.

A week after their successful heist, Shego leaned against the counter with a cup of coffee in hand, staring at the contents. She shifted it around, glaring into it. Around the corner, she heard a shuffle of fabric. Drakken peeked out from behind the corner.

"Good morning, Shego."

"Mmmff."

He walked tentatively around the corner into the kitchen, staring at her with wide plated eyes. "How are you. . . today?" It had not taken him long to realize that Shego was angry at him for whatever reason.

"I'm fine," she grumbled into her morning coffee.

At her tone, Drakken tiptoed around. "Is there any coffee left?"

"Should be," she answered bluntly.

Drakken poured himself a cup, then moved over to stand on the opposite side of the counter. He sipped his coffee, wanting to appear casual, then sputtered out the drink.

"Cream is in the fridge," she told him blandly, glaring into her steaming mug.

Drakken moved quickly and in an evasive manner, wanting to avoid the fire of Shego's quick-lit anger. "Okay. . . thank you." He swiftly grabbed the creamer, poured some in to his coffee, and put the bottle back in with one quick and hurried movement.

Shego watched him with darkened eyelids and a grimace. "What's wrong with you?"

He looked at her. "Oh it's just that. . . you've been a bit. . . snippity lately. Just trying to stay. . . out of the firing zone. . ." His eyes were wide. He blinked, holding the mug close to his chest.

Shego looked at him in consideration. "Fair enough."

Drakken stared at her. His mouth upturned as he bit the side of his upper lip. "You're uh. . . okay then?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, I suppose, so. If you're okay with having me on your side. Someone weak and incapable of protecting themselves." She glared directly at him.

His face was blank with confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, then only gurgled out, "Huh?"

Shego's flame of anger ignited. "You know. What you said in the sumo-craft the other day. _Remember_? Little Shego who can't look after herself or beat big bad teenage Kimmie?" Her lips twisted up scornfully as bitterness lingered in every bite of every word.

Drakken was baffled, and then comprehension dawned over his expression. "Oh you're angry about _that_?" he asked.

The villainess kept her glare firm on him, amazed at how _dense_ her boss could be. "Well, _yeah_!"

Drakken's face flushed purple from her hostile tone, and he slowly frowned, "I was just concerned-"

"_Concerned_?" she snarled.

"Concerned! About. . . you! I mean," he shuffled on his feet. "It was such a successful heist, I didn't want it to be ruined in case you might be. . . going soft or something." He quickly threw up is palms in defense, waving them erratically, "Which you're not!" he amended before he could spur on her anger further.

She looked at him in satisfaction, though her glower maintained its' intensity. "Fine. Now what have we learned today?" she asked simply as her body relaxed, nearly all signs of hostility gone.

He looked irked as his fists clenched, "Shego, I am not a child!"

"What have we _learned today, Drewbie_?" Her voice picked up in a sing-songy way, sickly sweet. She sipped smugly from her mug of coffee.

Drakken growled under his breath, now plum colored and bursting with anger, "Don't make you angry or I'll get my arm hairs singed off!"

Shego grinned. "Good!" She finally gulped down the remainder of her coffee, it's warmth spreading through her stomach and melting away her cold anger. She looked at her boss now with an expectant gaze. "So what's the plan for today?" After being inactive for another week, she was ready to whoop some butt. She placed the empty mug on the sink behind her.

Glad to be on a different topic, Drakken lit up at once, coming around the kitchen island Shego leaned against to stand opposite her. His face lit up and she looked on in skepticism. "I was thinking that we enact Phase 2 of the plan!"

She looked at him coldly. "Great. Phase 2. That would make total sense to me if I knew whatever Phase 2 _was_."

"Oh yeah," he blinked, cleared his throat, and continued, "Phase 2 includes us slowly taking over cities with our drones. I'm thinking we start small, and then work our way up as we take over more and more until. . ." he paused for dramatic effect, his wicked glower trying to put on a fierce expression, "_we take over the world_!" He threw his arms up, sending his coffee mug sailing into the air where it clattered on the tile and spilled the remnants of his drink all over the floor. Shego didn't let up her skeptic look.

"All right. Which city are we taking over first?" It seemed like it would take a little longer than usual to enact this plan out, but with the drones on their side, the world didn't stand a chance.

Drakken looked pleased with himself, knowing that he could answer her questions. He held himself up more proudly. "Well, Middleton is where our drone headquarters are, so there will always be a multitude of them to protect us and instill order when we take over. I think it's a good start."

"And then?" she asked.

"Once all the city is under our control, we can continue making more of the syntho-drones, and as we continue to build the army, we can take over more and more cities until the entire nation is under our command! Then, we'll move to Canada, take over their country, and start _total world domination!" _

At the thought of _finally _getting to help rule the world, a glowing feeling blossomed in Shego's stomach. She felt her lips turn up in a pleased smile. "All right, Doc. When do we start?"

**I feel like the chapters are getting shorter and shorter and shorter. Deepest apologies. I aim for them to be at least 1000 but I'm not even reaching ****_that_****.**

**sorry for how long it's taken to upload chapters, school has been insane and winter break is almost over, but I'll try to upload some before school sets back into**


	9. Chapter 9: Capital Idea

Chapter 9 Capital Idea

"Personally, Shego, I think attacking the capital first is a brilliant idea!"

Shego ground her teeth together in irritation as she gripped the steering wheel of the Sumo-craft Mark II. They had needed to make a larger one ever since the mass production of drones. The single sumo-craft from before was much too small at this point with all the firepower they were bringing with for this raid.

Shego kept her hands on the steering wheel as they flew fast towards the Middleton High School. "And what do you think will happen if we bomb the capital?" she asked with pursed lips.

"World domination, of course!" he answered swiftly. "What else?" Drakken's face had turned a dark magenta of frustration at his sidekick.

Rolling her eyes, Shego kept on course. "Yeah, great, and what'll happen when Miss Priss shows up to kick our sorry butts?" At the mention of the teen, the hover-vehicle zoomed over the high school as Shego gestured to it.

Drakken scoffed, "Oh who _cares_. The drones will take care of that kicking cheerleader, because we'll be kicking her into next week!"

Shego grimaced at his words, then lifted her eyebrows to be sure. "Really?" she asked.

"Really, Shego! I don't kid about global domination!"

The villainess scowled, tapping her fingers in quick succession on the steering wheel. Finally, she heaved a sigh, and to the delightful giggles of Drakken, pressed her foot harder on the gas pedal to send it speeding towards the capital.

"Fine!" she grumbled at him as he spun in his chair excitedly. "But when we get our butts kicked into jail, I'm not busting you out because it will have been _your fault_."

Drakken waved his hand at her quickly, turning to look out the window of the sumocraft. "Oh who _cares _about jail? We'll be _fine, _Shego. Stop being such a worry wart and _go _with it. Just you wait and see! We'll beat that Kim Possible with both hands tied around our backs!"

His confidence had the effect of making her feel better, but also worse. She gripped the steering wheel more tightly than usual, thankful her hands could not be seen beneath her green and black gloves.

Her eyes stared through the windshield of the sumo-craft as they approached the capital building, and Drakken peered over her shoulder in giddy excitement. He grabbed the back of her chair and leaned forward over her shoulder to get a better peek at the building beneath them.

"Oh, world domination will soon be ours, Shego!" he said excitedly. His voice came out as higher pitched and squeaky from his anticipation.

Shego didn't respond, finding herself incapable because of her suddenly picked-up heartbeat as Drakken's hand brushed the back of her inky black hair. Forcing herself to sound normal, she drawled, "Yeah, that is if the little robot army is going to be able to kick Miss Priss's cheer-leading pants."

Drakken suddenly looked at her. "Huh?"

Shego pointed at the steps of the nearing Capital building. Drakken leaned closer to the windshield, squinting to stare at any people below.

There, down on the steps of the Capital, was the cheerleader and her blonde sidekick. Shego could see the boyfriend pointing in the villains' direction and saying something into Kim's ear. The teenager looked up their way with a glower and faced them with a fighting pose.

Shego expected Drakken to groan as usual, but he only giggled in excitement. "Perfect, Shego! We'll be able to test the full capability of the drones!"

"Didn't we already do that?"

"Yes, but this time it's more official because we're doing it for the sake of _global domination_," he clarified.

She raised an eyebrow, "So the other attempt we made was-"

He glared at her from the corner of his eyes, "Let me remind you that our last escapade was _successful, _not _attempted_, and that was for the sake of proving the drones could work! (and we also needed money) _Now, _they're to prove that they will help me _take over the world_. Much different."

Shego rolled her eyes and let go of the steering wheel as they hovered over the building. Drakken whipped towards the drones. "Drones!" he ordered.

Over a hundred mechanical heads whirred his way.

"Claim and conquer!" the mad scientist barked.

The ocular screens on the drones immediately lit to a bright and ominous red color. Their voices droned out in syncopated succession, "Yes sir!"

Immediately, the drone army began pooling onto the steps below, carrying out their orders swiftly and efficiently. Shego watched from the hatch of the Sumo-craft, judging to see if Kimmie would be any trouble. Her hands rested plainly on her hips, and she fidgeted. It didn't settle her to be standing around while others were doing the work.

Drakken, on the other hand, was downright giddy. He jumped up and down excitedly, traveling to different vantage points of the chaos down below him. "Oh, Shego! The plan is working! What's the status on that Kim Possible?"

Shego looked around for the determined teen, catching sight of her sparring against one of the drones. The villainess watched them for a moment, "She's fighting one of the drones."

At once, Drakken zoomed over to her side, tapping his fingers together in excitement. "oh, excellent, Shego! We will see how successful the drones are advanci-_nnggh_!"

To the villains' dismay and horror, the teen was fighting against the drones, surrounded even, but she was _winning_.

Shego slammed her fist on the console, teeth ground in anger. "That _brat_!"

Drakken was growling as well, "Oh, Shego, go take care of her! She's ruining everything! _Again_!"

"Already on it!" Shego replied. She clipped out of her seat, set the hovercraft into Hover mode, and bolted to the exit. She was about to jump down when Drakken's voice made her pause.

"And Shego!"

She looked up. He was glowering at her (well, maybe not at _her_ directly but he was looking at her as he said it. Maybe he was just angry about Possible showing up?) "Don't disappoint me," he warned.

Okay then, maybe the glare _was _directed at her.

Breezily, she brushed off his comment. "Cool it down, Doc. I'm on it," she said carelessly, and leaped down from the hovercraft.

She landed lightly on the cement, and immediately ignited her hands, charging at the teen hero with a growl. Kim Possible turned at once at the sound, jumping away as Shego went on the offensive, slashing at her with her clawed gloves, the plasma missing her by millimeters.

"Come on, Kimmie! Aren't you gonna fight back?!" the villain sneered, her attacks quick and precise, the cheerleader's just as swift.

The teen suddenly kicked out her legs at Shego, causing the villain to flip back. The action forced Shego to fall into defense as Kim charged immediately into offense. At times it felt more like a dance than anything, the way the hero and villainess sparred in perfect synchronization, constantly moving towards and away from each other.

A very dangerous dance, but a dance nonetheless.

"I'm just giving you a chance to warm up!" Kim snarked.

And suddenly, the teen jumped at a nearby street-lamp pole, grabbing it with her hands and using built-up momentum to swing around and kick a caught-off-guard Shego directly onto her chest.

The villain felt her breath escape her as she fell onto her back, her head hitting hard against the angled pavement that was the stairs. Pain flared behind her eyes, and she immediately hissed from the sudden pain.

_Ouucchh, okay that hurts, that hurts, that hurts, that definitely hurts. _

Shego stood to her wobbled feet immediately, knowing it was never good to give an opponent time to reach you before you were on your feet and ready. Kim had other plans, apparently, because without a moment of hesitation, the teen-hero twisted and kicked Shego right in the gut, knocking her back over and onto the steps.

"You lose, again, Shego," Possible sniped, panting slightly. A smile tugged at the edge of her mouth.

Shego's arm wrapped around her stomach tenderly, knowing something was probably (definitely, very most likely) broken as flares of pain passed through her body. She met eyes with her enemy, glanced behind her, and grinned wickedly. "I wouldn't think that too quickly," she growled.

Before Kim had time to question Shego or check what was behind her, a metal arm slammed at the area between her neck and shoulders. Kim crumpled to the ground, and somewhere off in the fight, Shego heard Kimmie's sidekick call her name.

_Brat deserved it, anyway_, she thought with a pleased and dark grimace.

Shego grinned as she looked up at Zed, who immediately zoomed over to her, bending down to assist his owner. She grabbed his robotic claw and stood to her feet shakily. "Good work, Zed." Her knees trembled and she gasped in silent pain as she struggled to breathe.

Zed offered to give her a lift as she started to force herself to walk back to the hovercraft. She refused, too proud to accept help, and jumped up to grab a rope ladder Dr. D must have dropped for her. Zed was in pursuit, following her closely to ensure she wouldn't fall.

Shego grimaced in pain as she heaved herself up, rolling onto her side to land on her back as she laid on the floor of the hovercraft. Her palms were sweaty, her face clammy and cold. Her breath rattled in her throat, and she touched her sternum with light hands, wincing from its' tenderness.

Zed entered into the hovercraft as it started to move away quickly.

Shego frowned as she listened to Dr. D's voice, seeming to come from far away. It was muffled, like she was listening to him from underwater. He sounded angry, furious even.

"Just drive away now!" his warbled voice ordered. "That darn 10 year old who helps Kim Possible found a way to mess with the hard drives. We'll have to reconfigure the electrical output before we return and make another attempt."

Shego's breath was starting to come in shallow and fast as the pain zapped through her again when she tried to take a deep breath. The floor was cold.

_Attempt? We must have failed. _I _failed. . . again. _Anger sparked in the villainess, and she wanted to kick something, but all of her energy was kaput and her entire torso just _hurt_. Her eyes closed, and her brain immediately welcomed the idea of sleep.

_I'll just take a rest. When I wake up, the pounding in my head will be gone, I'm sure_.

She managed to crack her eyes open a little when she heard Drakken's muffled voice again, coming in closer now. "Shego? Shego! Number 12, take the wheel and get us to our mountain lair immediately!"

She looked at the doc from her blurred vision; the usual clear image of him now looked smeared water dabbed on a freshly-painted canvas. And she was tired now. So, so tired.

_I'll just close my eyes for a few moments_. . . Shego told herself. Her eyelids started to slump closed. In the distance, Drakken's voice was becoming more and more faint.

"Shego! _Shego_!"

**Thanks for reading the next chapter! :) I'd like to thank all you lovely people who continue to review, thank you for taking the time to do so! I'll try to get the next chapter up tomorrow if the day works out. Reading your thoughts on this story is it's own reward. **


	10. Chapter 10: Recovery

Chapter 10

The current of pictures that flashed by Shego was a downpour of colors and images she couldn't make out. Swirls and streaks of orange and black flashed by, accompanied by odd shapes that could be a person, or not. Strangely, the distorted images that formed were like the essence of sound, always moving and creating different kinds of colors and outlines. Greens and blues streaked past her, and Shego felt confusion.

Then the images and distorted colors faded and lost their tune. She opened her eyes.

A slow beeping echoed at her left, loud and persistent. Something cold like ice lay on her left wrist, yet Shego felt warmth over the rest of her body. She shifted where she was . . lying? She was lying down. As Shego blinked open her eyes, she recognized a heavy and warm comforter placed over her; it fanned out over the length of the bed as she looked down to where her toes would be.

Lifting her eyes, she examined the room, and heaved a giant yawn, stretching some of her muscles.

She was definitely in the mountain cave lair. The walls were made of dark, chiseled and broken gray stone, as was the ceiling. When Drakken originally found the cave by accident during a scheme, he proclaimed, "This _has _to be our summer getaway lair!" So they had chiseled out some walls and blasted some sections of the monstrous cave and now they had an extensive cave-lair in the mountains.

Shego looked around as far as she could from her limited position. She was in her bed on her side of the cave ("Naturally, we can't have _walls _and _doors_, Shego; this is a _cave_," Drakken emphasized when

they had started bringing furniture and equipment into the lair.)

Shego recalled how she crossed her arms at the time of furbishing the home, stubbornly insisting. "Fine. But _that _side of the cave is _mine_."

Drakken went along with her request, though it was met with grumbles and mumbles about her attitude and that lippy sass of hers.

Shego had chosen part of the cave mainly because it was secluded from the rest of the cave, set off near the back and separated by a segment of stone that was like a wall. The shape of her "room" curved out into the shape of a circle with a huge opening that faced the east side of the cave, where Drakken's bed area was.

_It gives us more privacy_, she thought, not thrilled about needing to change her clothes or take a shower in an open area where all the henchmen would be around.

Oh, Shego wasn't afraid of the henchmen, by any means. Or threatened, or worried of being caught exposed or just afraid in general. She knew that if any of the henchmen or Drakken tried anything while she was exposed, she could easily blast them to kingdom come. It was for the sake of privacy that it mattered at all.

Shego turned her head to look at the side of her king-sized bed, where she identified the source of the incessant beeping. It was an EKG monitor, the waves on the screen consistent and slightly picking up as she regained consciousness. A blood pressure cuff squeezed around her right arm, monitoring her blood pressure, while another monitor attached to her finger kept a record of her pulse and oxygen saturation levels. The beeping and blips on the screen made her dizzy and her head hurt, so she looked away to grimace in pain.

_Ugh _her head _hurt_.

Wanting to identify the source of ice cold on her left wrist, Shego moved the comforter aside to see an IV inserted under her skin into a vein. The tube slipped over the side of her bed and lifted up to where the bag of liquids was that she was being filled with, cold and clear like water. When she squinted at the print on the bag, she identified it as normal saline.

_Oh my gosh, Drakken. Is this all really necessary_?

The beeping from her heart picked up a bit, announcing her waking. There was a shuffle of movement that she heard beyond the slab of stone wall, and she blinked in concentration as Drakken peeked from behind it. "Shego?" he asked. "Are you awake?"

Shego forced herself to sit up, wincing and groaning in pain as she did. "Yeah, yeah I'm awake- _what am I wearing_?!"

Upon sitting up, the cover over her body slid down to reveal a thin, almost plastic-like dress over her body printed a light blue. The sleeves went to the middle of her arm, and the whole thing only covered her front so cold air brushed against her exposed back when she turned to glare at Drakken, her gaze demanding answers.

Drakken came out from behind the corner a little more boldly, "Oh, it's just a standard patient gown."

Shego flushed and glowered his way. Images flashed in her mind of Drakken stripping her and placing her in this bed. Her heart rate picked up exponentially and her face turned hot. Her boss threw his palms up to his chest in a sign of surrender, "_I didn't take you out of your suit, though_!" he explained quickly.

_Now _images of Drakken unclothing her were replaced instantly with henchmen, sneering and laughing and being pigs, and before Shego could blast her boss into next week, he burst out quickly, "We kidnapped a nurse from a hospital on our way here who did it, don't worry! After she got you into bed and hooked you up to the EKG, we let her go and I put the IV in you." He brushed his hand up and down his arm, "I had her check you out though. . . make sure you were okay. . ._mmnrgh_." As his words fell away, he looked down awkwardly.

Shego felt her blood cool. Her fists released the tension inside her. "Why?" she asked with a frown.

Drakken's face swiftly paled to a soft baby blue as he struggled to explain, "You-you passed out Shego, back at the capital building." He wrangled his hands together nervously. Shego noticed his gloves were off; the sleeves of his coat hung from his arms freely. His hands seemed to shine with sweat, and she looked back to him as he bumbled out his explanation.

"And your head-it was _bleeding_\- and you weren't responding to us and you weren't waking up so that's about when we kidnapped that nurse and brought her to you because I didn't know what was wrong and just-"

"Calm down, doc," she huffed. "I'm fine."

He looked at her, cheeks puffy and glaring her way. He flushed purple. "You-You weren't fine though! You really sc-We were very concerned for you."

Shego noticed the slip in his sentence, and she gazed at him with her x-ray stare, piercing into him. "Really?" she asked. He nodded, looking like an embarrassed child. "So what's wrong with me?" she asked, lowering herself into the bed.

Drakken looked relieved to move on to a different topic, and he looked at her with a more professional air. "The nurse said you had a minor concussion, and some broken ribs." Shego briefly grimaced, touching the underside of her breasts, unable to withhold the slight gasp.

"Ow," she mumbled.

Drakken twiddled his fingers together again, and he looked to her nervously, a curious glint in his eyes. "Shego? H-How did you get those injuries anyway? Kim Possible never acted so violently towards you before. . . You've never been hurt this badly, have you?"

Now it was her turn to be embarrassed. Shego felt her face burn hot again, and she tried to brush it off. To distract herself, she tilted her wrist and slightly arched it so the fluids would go into her bloodstream better. The IV dripped through more quickly. It felt like a packet of ice was being pressed onto where the needle was.

"That's not important," she told him, not looking his way, focusing on her wrist.

When she glanced at him, he was glaring her way, onto her lie. "It was that Kim Possible, wasn't it?" he asked, right on the mark.

Shego grimaced, and found she couldn't answer, too ashamed. That teen had beat her again. How, though? Was the girl getting better? Was Shego getting worse? She didn't know at this point.

Drakken made another grumbling sound. "_Mmmrrgh_. Shego-I told you how important this-"

"Look I'll get her next time, okay?" Shego snapped, the EKG picking up her change in heart rate immediately. "She just got the slip on me, that's all."

"That's been happening a _lot_, hasn't it?" he asked her, searching.

She glared at him. "It's _nothing_!" she insisted. Her hands began to glow, hot and burning.

Drakken frowned. He looked like he wanted to persist his questioning, but the fire in his eyes lowered, and he turned away from her. His footsteps faded. "Just rest!" he told her. "We'll discuss more of this when you're better."

Shego glared after him. She wanted to call at him, to tell him he needed to talk to her _right now_, but the aching pain in her ribs flashed through her. Her breath hissed out from her lungs, and she ground her teeth together.

At the sound of her in pain, Drakken peered out again from behind the corner. He frowned at her. "I know it hurts, but you need to take deep breaths. The nurse said so."

Shego glared at him. He fidgeted under her stare, but he maintained his order. "It's good for your lungs. Take deep breaths when you can."

He didn't move his eyes from her. With a pained sigh, Shego took in as deep a breath as she could manage, and released it.

Drakken seemed to be satisfied, and his stare melted away bit by bit until he nodded, then coughed into his hand. "Good, then. Get some rest."

He disappeared in a flash, but Shego couldn't help but call out, "Something doesn't make sense, though."

Her boss's curious face reappeared, blinking owlishly at her. "What?" he asked, his voice sounding incredulous.

She managed to lift her head to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "How is it that you could set an IV into my arm but didn't know how to attach an EKG monitor?"

Drakken blinked guiltily, and looked away bashfully as he twiddled with his fingers. "Hah hah, funny story, really, well, not a funny _story_, just funny – look I know how to set IV's because of how much practice I've had doing them on you but I forgot where to place the EKG sensors, okay?! Geez," and with a flap of his dark navy lab coat, he was gone.

Shego chuckled softly and then settled back into the comfort of the soft pillows and bed, allowing herself to fall into a deep and relaxing sleep.

(**)

**Thank you again for reading! :D Hopefully I'll cram another chapter out tomorrow. It's all written up, I just have to edit it before sending out for you guys to enjoy :) And besides all that, I'm excited to get to the ****soul-crushing**** feels roller coaster :D ****enjoy the fluff while you still can **

**If you have time, please feel free to review! ** **I love hearing your guys' thoughts on the story and any critiques you might have! **

**Until tomorrow, then! :) **


	11. Chapter 11: It's Biological

Chapter 11

A week passed by uneventfully. Shego spent almost all of her time in bed, recovering from her injuries, and remaining in a constant state of feeling bored out of her mind.

She was standing and walking around within a day of staying in the cave lair. Drakken was always around, busy working on something or just ignoring her in general. Shego thought it strange, because her boss was such an emotional person, and he was always ensuring that she was okay, even at the risk of his own happiness. At least, that's what he usually would have done.

_He must be working on something, _she amended easily enough.

On the fourth day of the week, Shego sat down on the living room couch gingerly, her broken ribs only a distant pain to her, now. Thankfully, from the amount of rest she got, the effects of her minor concussion indeed started to fade away until all of her symptoms were absent.

It was lunchtime, and in her hand, Shego held a piece of blazing and microwaved pizza. She curled her legs in on the couch so her feet were folded underneath her. Her body faced Drakken, her eyes searching for some kind of engaging interaction.

Drakken was oblivious, too busy working and scribbling notes onto his notepad. Shego needed to force herself to resist from snatching the book right from him and peeking through it. His little notebook was one thing Drakken held very close to his heart, and she would get in huge trouble with him if she tried to ever peek through it without permission.

"Hey doc. What are you working on?" she asked now, eating a piece of the leftover pizza. Her eyes were glued on Drakken, studying him and taking a mental note of everything he did.

He grumbled, "Better ways to improve the drones. This losing thing is getting ridiculous. I can't handle it anymore."

Shego ate some more of her pizza. "So what are you going to do?"

Drakken lifted his head from his desk, blinking in confusion and withheld anger. He suddenly scowled, clenching his fists and throwing his pencil to the other side of the room. It clattered harmlessly against the wall and onto the floor. Shego continued eating. "_Mmrgh_!" her boss growled as he buried his hands into his hair aimlessly, "I don't know what I can do! No idea seems to work."

Shego kept on munching. She swallowed her pizza, and made the decision not to comment.

In anger, the doc crumpled the piece of paper he held and threw it against the wall to be with the pencil. He placed his head onto the desk, groaning.

The villainess rolled her eyes, "What a cliché," she mumbled.

He lifted his head to glare at her. "What was that?" he asked.

Shego looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't just get mad at the drones for not working out how you want them to. Just decide on how you want them to be better."

He looked at her bitterly, but she saw a flash of agreement in his eyes as he looked away. "Yes, I know. But this inventing thing is so frustrating!"

With a sigh, Shego pulled up a chair next to him at the kitchen table. She bit into more of her pizza. "Well, just think about it. Where did the drones go wrong during the fight?"

Drakken looked to her, lips pursed and his eyes a frown. He shifted his gaze away, contemplative. "Well," he thought aloud, "the drones were more vulnerable during the fight because of the stairs, for one, and their programming was too easily accessible for their techno-dweeb to break in to."

Shego mumbled out from her full mouth of food. "Well there you go. Better programming and stair capability. See how easy that was?"

He glared at her, though there was no heat in his gaze, and hastily grabbed another pencil to start drawing out his ideas. "Yes, yes, fine, thank you for your input," he grumbled.

She gave him a gloating smile, finishing off her pizza. "You're welcome," she chirped sarcastically.

Drakken didn't respond, already lost in a world of his own as he scribbled frantically at the paper. Shego glanced at the sketches, but she couldn't make sense of the marks.

When Dr. D didn't add anything else to his thoughts, she finished her pizza and moved back to the living room where she collapsed onto the nearest couch.

~a few days later~

"_Shego_!"

The villainess sat up in her chair, woozy from her nap and imbalanced as she heaved a yawn. "Huh? What? Dr. D, what's going on?"

She rubbed her eyes to see her boss bouncing up and down from foot to foot, clapping his hands together and squealing with excitement. "Oh, Shego! I think I did it!"

She yawned again and swung her legs from the arm of the chair so she could sit up better. She stretched as she did, regaining feeling in her arms. "Okay. Did what?" she yawned again.

Drakken held a remote up for her too see. Small, dark, and a single red button in the middle. Shego was unimpressed. "Okay. So it's a remote to turn the lights off and on? Because I don't see any reality where anything needs just one button."

Drakken glowered at her, his mouth turned up in a frown. "Just you wait, _Shego_, you'll see what it does. Behold-" his finger pressed the button, "my new syntho-drones!"

Her boss stepped aside for full viewing. Shego looked at it oddly. The new syntho-drone was similar to the previous design, the arms a swinging cord and the hands huge and bulky, the fingers large and bumbling. The torso was triangular in shape, but upside down, and the head was the same with an ocular screen instead of eyes and a half-circular speaker for a mouth.

"It looks. . . exactly the same," Shego drawled.

Drakken looked at her with pursed lips. "That doesn't mean it _acts _the same."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Drakken grinned at her proudly. "Now it can adjust to stairs like you said, and I tried to up the program a bit so it's not as much electronically based but . . . not electric."

Shego looked on skeptically. "Then what's the remote for?"

"Oh this? Just for flair. Useless, really," Drakken threw it over his shoulder.

Shego placed a hand on her chin in contemplation. "You said the program isn't really based on electricity? So, what _is _it based on?"

Drakken looked pleased for her to have asked this. "Why, Shego, not electronically based, but _biologically_."

He waited for her to get it, but when she stared at him blankly, he threw his arms up in frustration. "I infused a part of my DNA into their data so they obey me _directly_. Even if that Kim Possible's techno-wiz was able to hack into the system, he can't change the program if _I'm _the program! Isn't it genius?!"

He looked at her joyously, like he expected some kind of _whoopa _from her, but Shego just stared at him blankly. "Yeah, I suppose that could work."

"_Could_ work? Shego this is _genius_!" He danced in place. "The techno-geek will never be able to hack in the system now! We'll take over the world _easy_!"

Shego wasn't able to pull down the smile that tugged at her lips, amused to see Drakken as he hopped joyously around the mountain lair, clapping his hands and laughing. "Oh this is going to be great! Just you wait, Shego! We'll prove them wrong, we'll prove them _all _wrong!"

So they did.

(**)

**filler?**** shorter chapter today, sorry guys! the payoff will be worth it, though; there will be ****pain**** funtimes**


	12. Chapter 12: Second Try

Chapter 12

Several weeks later, Shego lounged in their newly-acquired and comfy couch in the capital of Upperton. Drakken cackled from nearby, holding a handful of money and throwing it into the air, laughing as it floated back down to the floor. Shego laughed giddily. People outside screamed in fear as the refurbished drone army conquered the city.

"Oh, this is the _life_," she grinned at Dr. D, and he looked at her approvingly.

"And it's all thanks to _my _syntho-drones!" Dr. D bragged.

Shego rolled her eyes, but when she glanced to her boss, she supposed he deserved this _one _victory, so she conceded, "Yes, all thanks to the _syntho-drones_."

Dr. D. giggled, pleased with himself as he danced on his toes and clapped his hands. "We finally did it, Shego! I'm so excited! We took over the capital of Upperton!"

The villainness grinned with her evil boss, and gestured to the tied-up mayor alongside the wall. "They didn't make it very difficult, either."

Drakken grinned again, "I know, right? I mean, those guards he had were total _goons_, even compared to the ones that _I _have!" Too excited to stand still, Drakken did his happy dance again, then ran over to promptly grab Shego's shoulders. Syntho-drones zoomed around them, busy keeping people out and containing them. One circled around the tied-up mayor and his assistant, making warbling sounds and wrapping duct tape around them. All this activity, and Shego could only stare at Drakken as he looked her directly in the eyes with a smile that could have stretched to his ears if he tried. Shego's face warmed from his close proximity, and Drakken went on brazenly without noticing her suddenly stiff expression.

"We've never gotten this far in a mission before! I mean, we did a little bit with the Little Diablos, but that's something totally different and we've been in charge of Upperton for over a whole _hour_ now, and there's still _no sign _of that Kim Possible!" He was giddy, high on cloud nine with his new power over all these people.

Shego offered her own smile, thought it was much more tentative than his. "Yeah, hopefully our control over it will last a _little _longer than a few hours, though."

"Of _course_, Shego! But with the syntho-drones, we have no problem taking control of the whole district!" Drakken released her, going into position where he could stand and monologue to her. It made sense to Shego; after all, Kim Possible hadn't shown her face yet and he needed to rant to _someone. _

Drakken paced in front of her, "Our problem with the _Little Diablo _incident is that we went too big, too soon. Now, we're starting off _smaller _and building our way up to the top! As we continue to establish our dominance over the city, we can expand our empire, start making demands and displays of the power we wield with our newly improved _syntho-drones_. The process will take longer, which I don't like very much, but the pay off will be well worth it!"

He clenched his fist in decision, and looked to Shego expectantly. "It does sound good, does it?" He twiddled his hands in front of him, his nervous tick. She blinked at his question, momentarily perplexed at his query towards her. He wanted confirmation from her, to know that his idea was a good one, that it had _her _approval. He actually wanted to know _her opinion_.

Shego smiled more freely now, and stood from the couch with an air of confidence. "Don't worry Doc, you're actually in the okay this time, and it makes more sense logically. I think if we play our cards right and have enough influence over the city with the drones, taking over the world one bit at the time should prove to be _no problem_."

From her support, Drakken smiled at her thankfully. He breathed, then turned and marched over to where his new desk was, taken by the mayor of Upperton.

Drakken approached it, then stopped to stare down at the polished wood of the desk. He closed his eyes, breathed, smiled, then sat himself down in the big leather chair.

"Oh, Shego, it _spins_!" he announced giddily, grabbing the desk to momentum himself into a whirl of movement.

Shego crossed her arms, but a playful smile edged the parts of her mouth. "Yeah, amazing. _That's _the grand prize. Not the power and control, but the _spinny chair. _Oh thank goodness for evil!"

Drakken didn't let her snark get to him. He only spun faster in the chair gleefully. "We finally did it, Shego! We finally started to take over the world, _successfully_!"

He grabbed the desk suddenly, and brought the chair to a sudden halt. From where he sat, he looked up at Shego with his dark eyes. His lips formed a small smile. "Shego," he started, and his face turned dark. Recognizing the strange look in his face, Shego's own grin dropped, and her heart suddenly picked up speed, rapidly beating against her chest. "Shego," Drakken said again, and he seemed to be struggling to find the right words. He gazed down at his hands on the mayor's desk. "I never could have-"

"Dr. Drakken Your Majesty _Sir_!"

The suspended moment collapsed into dust as a syntho-drone zoomed into the room, then promptly saluted and bowed to Drakken, who stood up and gave his full attention to the bot. He ran a hand through his dark hair. "Um, yes? What is it?!" Shego recognized him trying to sound more macho than he was, and she let her heart calm down, relieved from avoiding the emotional moments building up. Her attention turned back to the bot.

It faced Drakken, "Sir, there is no current activity from Kim Possible."

Drakken clapped his hands together. "Perfect! Just what I wanted to hear! Let's keep up a little bit of a low profile until then, hmm? We'll work our way up and take over Middleton after we do Lowerton, but be subtle about it, not like today. We need to keep this as covert as possible." He gazed at the bot. "Ensure your squad keep her in the dark for as long as possible, and send out another to distract that techno-geek she relies on."

The robot saluted and bowed once more, then sped from the room. Shego could feel Drakken wanting to return to the previous conversation, but by the time he turned around, she made sure that she was already gone.

~the next day~

Shego cackled next to Drakken, her body leaning against the frame of the hovercraft. Drakken laughed madly at her side, giddy with delight as they supervised the robots taking over Lowerton. People on the steps of the government building ran in fear, screaming and crying out for help. Police force, thought to be prepared, failed miserably. The shield system built in to the drones was too strong for them.

"Ah, we'll need to fix the bugs in the system though," Drakken told her gleefully, too happy to be brought down by minor malfunctions when the shields glitch out. "The syntho-drones are made of stronger material anyway, and aren't that easy to damage."

Shego nodded. "We can work on that after we finish taking down this place, huh Doc?" Her smile was dark and hungry for power, her mood confident. She shifted her gaze from the scene below to her boss, and stilled.

Drakken was staring at her. Well, it wasn't really staring, as much as it felt he was. . . _gazing _at her. It was more intimate than staring. Gentler, with a sense of awe and . . . _tenderness_.

It was completely unnatural to Shego, and she found herself unsure of how to react to him. She blinked at his closeness, and her lips pressed together in a pursed expression. "Uh, Dr. D?" she asked.

His expression wasn't changing, though it did become a little more smooth, and he leaned into her as she took an unconscious step away from him. A rise of defensiveness rose in Shego, but Drakken began speaking, despite any discomfort she might show, "Shego, I don't think I ever told you how much I-"

_Crack, splinter-BOOM! _

The attention of both villains was drawn instantly away as the first explosion sounded. Drakken leaned out of the edge of the hovercraft, and Shego needed to practically haul him in so he wouldn't fall out. "What's happening?!" he demanded, frantic and instantly concerned about the syntho-drones. "What's going on?!"

More explosions were sounding. Shego heaved Drakken back into the safety of the hovercraft. "I don't know!" she panted, and took her own turn to lean out and scan the area.

The syntho-drones were spontaneously exploding from the torso and wigging out. Zaps of electricity bounced off their robotic bodies, and several of them were spinning around in circles, incapable of following their orders from Drakken.

Speaking of, Shego's shifty boss cursed in the corner from where he stood, analyzing the data from the syntho-drones.

"What's going on?" she called to him, staring in awe as a majority of the syntho-drones continued their dance of failure.

"A circuitry problem," Drakken grumbled, fury lacing his tone. Anger turned his face purple. Shego glanced at him, just in time to see him slam is fist down on the board, cracking a screen. He cursed again, and snatched up the microphone attached to the board. After flicking on the microphone, he yelled into it.

"Drones!" his voice echoed over the speakers. "Return to the Mothership for immediate retreat! Now! At once!"

Shego watched as Drakken slammed the microphone down, then hastened to go sit in his chair. He crossed his arms with a furious expression crossed over his face. "Those blasted bots aren't worth a minute of my time!" he grumbled.

The young villainess made room for the drones (what was left of them, at least) so they could enter the hovercraft and go immediately into their statue mode. Shego scanned them. Several of them were dented from citizens trying to defend themselves. Screens were cracked, and sparks of electricity zapped all around them. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of relief when she spotted Zed standing in line with the rest, dented, but relatively unharmed.

"_Shego_!" Drakken snapped from his chair. "Get us out of here!"

At once, Shego moved into action. "Alright, alright, Mr. Grumpy," she mumbled, buckling in as she stepped on the gas pedal, and zoomed into the sky. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel.

"Don't give me any of that lip!" he growled.

Shego rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Alright, alright, whatever." Drakken didn't respond, but as she glowered into the window, her mind couldn't help but flit back to the image of Drakken leaning towards her, his eyes faded and gazing into something far beyond her. Then she compared it to his face now, bitter and full of self-loathing. The people from the government building that were just screaming in fear and terror, now congregated closely, thanking whatever divinity had spared them from the seemingly indefensible drone attack.

She growled to herself, and gripped the steering wheel tightly. Her fingers tapped against the curve of it, and she wondered distantly how this day had suddenly taken a turn for the worse.

(**)

**Thanks for reading another chapter, lovelies! I'll have another up tomorrow, hopefully :) Please feel free to leave a review telling me what you think! I'd love to read your thoughts on the story so far**


End file.
